Best Australian Bands

biscuits

The Top Ten

1AC/DCAC/DC are a Australian hard rock band, formed in November 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, who continued as members until Malcolm's illness and departure in 2014. They were fronted by Bon Scott until his untimely death due to alcohol poisoning in 1980, after which they hired Brian Johnson to ...read more.

AC/DC's 1980 album Back In Black currently stands at the #2 all-time highest selling albums... Ever. Being that the #1 spot is occupied by an American, I would say this is good enough reason to convince anyone AC/DC is Australia's #1 band... Oh, they are also in the record books as Australia's #1 export, never fallen into the "where are they now" category, never had an album that didn't produce two or 3 chart makers, let alone have never had an album go out of print that became impossible to find for a while. Not to mention, not many bands could compete with having created so many memorable and classic rock anthems and riffs. Even Deep Purple only have TWO of those, and most people don't even know Black Knight without hearing it.

Yep. They're number 1 ozzie band. And they are still going strong.

AC/DC are easily the best band to come out of Australia saw them live in Melbourne last february and there is nothing like it they are just simply amazing

2INXSINXS were an Australian rock and pop band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales.

I Highly agree... their music mix of POP/FUNK/R&B/ROCK genres reached the most tastes of all music lovers worldwide and MH had one of the top 5 Rock Vocal ranges ever... I love AC/DC but have to categorize them as Hard/Heavy Metal Rock. For all that, I would have to put INXS at # 1!

I discovered INXS with the video of the song 'Need You Tonite' and never, ever stopped listening to them. Michael Hutchence was the best ever Rock singer to walk planet Earth. Great voice, sensuous - he had it all and and he left it all to soon. Every member of the band performs well. Their song 'Never Tear Us Apart' is one of the BEST rock ballads by a Rock Band. The band died with the death of Michael Hutchence. There never will be another!

Great band especially I love their song never tear us apart the music and the drummer plays very well

3Bee GeesThe Bee Gees were a pop music group formed in 1958. Their line-up consisted of brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.

One of the best bands ever. I always love their songs. They were one of the best musicians in their time. One of my dreams is being in one of their live concerts will never come true!

Undoubtedly they cut their teeth here got the platform to start off and frankly acknowledge that in their successful careers - in fact they are the best export of music out of Australia gaining critical acclaim on a global scale and renewed respect and due recognition for their melodies harmonies songwriting and production. All three brothers together contributed uniquely and together were magic! Barry and the late Robin and Maurice deserve their part in history as one of the greatests bands of all time. Be interesting to count all records sold that have been written and recorded by other artists.

Bee Gees are definitely an excellent music group, but whether they are classed as Australian I always ponder - yes they did live in Australia for a few years and started their career hear, many still question their true nationality.

The Bee Gees were a BRITISH band, not an Australian band & recently, Barry Gibb was made a Knight by Queen Elizabeth II so he is OBVIOUSLY BRITISH. Sure, the Bee Gees lived in Australia for a while but they returned to Britain, their homeland & went from strength to strength there & around the world..

5SilverchairSilverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Merewether, Newcastle with the line-up of Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar.

... I'm going to pretend "The Young Modern" never happened and vote Silverchair for best Australian band.

Their music got me through tough times and let me know I wasn't the only that felt that way. His voice is AMAZING, I hope they put out more albums cause I'm in love with that band. WE LOVE YOU SILVERCHAIR

Silverchair is honestly my favorite bands of all time. They have so much passion and talent and sound amazing. From grunge, hard rock, alternative, rock, pop and indie, they are one of the greatest bands of all time. They were 16 and were playing on SNL and Letterman and hold the record for the most ARIA awards. They went on with big shows like Rock in Rio, Big Day Out, Rock AM Ring, MTV music awards and a ton more. But to be put on the spot and handle it so well, there just amazing

6Midnight OilMidnight Oil are an Australian rock band, who originally performed as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie.

Not only the best band from Australia, the best band of all time. Their music is the most compelling I've ever heard, even years after they officially packed it in. Never seems to age or be less than totally relevant and powerful. Couldn't pick a best album - at least six could fill that spot, and best song? Forget it, too many to count. Greatness is not based on popularity, it's based on greatness, and Midnight Oil are the greatest.

Strongly think this band should be listed higher. A band can only be judged in its own time frame. Midnight Oil was hugely important in its time, and references to it and its songs are still being made in political and social circles.

Maybe not the highest in popular appeal, the Oils have to rank at the top in terms of musical content and body of work. Great lyrics, lots of albums, awesome in concert-what more could you ask for?

If you take personal bias aside and take a band on a song-by-song basis, then no one comes even close to Crowded House. Sure ACDC are an amazing rock band, Chisel have produced some power ballads, but Crowded House are the masters when it comes to writing a perfect song. Track for track of every album (pre reunion and latter efforts) is amazing. The combination of both Finn brothers on "Woodface" was huge and I do not think there is a single singer/songwriter to come out of Australia / New Zealand with the talent of Neil Finn. He and the band are amazing. They are without a doubt number 1.

I absolutely love Crowded House, not only are they one of the best Aussie bands (I know Neil Finn is a Kiwi, but they're still overall Australian), I honestly think they are one of the best all-time bands.

It's a rare occasion when you find a Best Of album where every song is not only recognisable but of the highest quality.

This is literally my favourite band OF ALL TIME! I remember hearing Don't Dream It's Over on the radio when I was about 3 or 4-after Paul Hester died- and Crowded House has always been with me from that point. I cannot think of anyone as consistently brilliant as Neil Finn and I just think that both he and Tim are seriously underrated in places like the UK and the US. On a song for song basis there is no band that has had so many brilliant songs, when a Crowded House best of is released it would probably be fairer to just rerelease every album. Also, taking personal opinion aside, where's cold chisel?... Not top 3? WHAT?!

With respect, Crowded House is a NEW ZEALAND BAND, NOT an Australian band.

You have Cold Chisel WAY down the list from their rightful place in the top 5 when they are Australian Rock Royalty. It's like listing Led Zeppelin below Oasis on a British list. I mean what? This is a band that crosses generations with hit after hit. Even if you don't like them, you gotta be impressed with the song writing and amazing vocals of young Jimmy Barnes. This list loses all credibility with Cold Chisel down this low. Just go see a whole crowd of young kids raise their glass in the air and sing an entire Chisel song regardless of whether they own a single album.

Absolute joke leaving chisel out of the top 10 let alone the top 5, I mean these dudes were just so real and everything Australian culture is about, absolute legends and the voice of barnes is something that no country or other band will ever have, the uniqueness of this great aussie pub rock band is something that no body will ever be able to compare to, again absolute joke leaving them out of the top 10!

If they aren't the best band Australia has produced, they're a close second to AC/DC... which is only because of worldwide popularity. Easily better than INXS and Crowded House, they are the definitive Aussie Rock band with most of their music being very cultural and nationally relevant. International fame is the one thing they lack, and should this list be judged on that? - paulvroc

9Parkway DriveParkway Drive is an Australian metalcore band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, formed in 2003. As of 2015, Parkway Drive has released five full-length albums, one EP, two DVDs, a split album and one book, titled Ten Years of Parkway Drive.

I think if this was a most influential aussie metal bands I could see parkway reaching top 5 no diff. It's because of them that any aussie metal band can have international success. Before Parkway there were only a few aussie metal bands that were able to reach out of Australia and now record labels are willing to take a risk on young aussie bands because of Parkway. Without them we wouldn't have bands like In Hearts Wake or Northlane. Not to mention how many bands can you name that have never released a bad album?

Parkway Drive are the most technically accomplished and musically enlightened metalcore band of the 21st century. They play fast ultra heavy style metal, but it is still music. Most modern metal/deathcore bands I have heard only want to be the loudest/fastest/most dissonant band and forget that they are meant to be making music.

Just a personal note, Metalcore isn't really metal/punk at all. It is it's own genre.

At least Parkway make some real metal.

How is parkway drive not in the top 5 they are arguably the best metal core band in the world. The have the best growler I have ever heard and kick ass drumming and a awesome guitarist. Beast solos and epic intros what more could you want?

One of the best in the metalcore genre great screams by Winston, and great riffs by Jeff.

10Nick Cave and the Bad SeedsNick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and presently consists of Cave, violinist and multi-instrumentalist ...read more.

I'm sorry but Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds needs to be in the top 10, simply the sophistication of their music places them above most of these bands. Into My Arms, Where the Wild Roses Grow, Are You The One That IVe Been Waiting For, Do You Love Me? , The Ship Song, The Mercy Seat, Red Right Hand- are some of the best Australian songs ever

This band should definitely be ranked in the top 10. If for no other reason than Red Right Hand. That song is pure genius!

The Contenders

11Men At WorkMen at Work are an Australian rock/pop band formed in Sydney. The group is most famous for their hit, "Land Down Under"

All time best Australian Band Ever! They made Australia visible and popular to us "yanks" from the U.S. I absolutely loved this band and saw them twice when they came to the states and later got to actually meet Colin Hay up close and in person and shake his hand and get a photo with him! He is hilariously funny!

Totally agree that this band should be at the top of this post!

Down under was the best song, it was on kangaroo jack my favorite movie.

I'm from Canada, and honestly, if I can say that, it's because they were REALLY famous all over! Man, it cannot be that low on this list; please fix it!

Because they are one of the best Aussie bands that still have more to come. I love there songs because there are great quality and it doesn't matter if you are rocking out at the supermarket because you are listening to one of the greatest rock artist ever

Joker and thief lyrics, voice is impressiveSame as iTunesJunky they should be first or second

Wolfmother aren't as good as ac/dc but I haven't even heard of half of these other. Their songs always have something new to them some are a bit like screamos but most aren't I respect all their songs even though joker and the thief is the only one that most have heard of I think at least they should be 3rd if not 4th.

Brilliant band, with loads of classics. To the person who said none of the members are Australian, just because they weren't born in Australia, doesn't mean they aren't Australian. Plus, Tony Cahill was actually born in Australia...

A great Aussie band. Amazingly consistent and diverse catalogue. How they're this low, I don't know.

Good lord this band has Australia's best songwriters and hit makers - why is it only in No 13?

Greatest band ever, so much better than all the modern day music and so many great songs. I went to the Sunsets Farewell Tour, where Powderfinger and jet both played and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Bernard Fanning is amazing.

I'm from the US and lived in Sydney for a year. This band had the greatest impact on me while I was there. Love the whole story... Sorta similar to Pearl Jam in my humble opinion. Great memories of these guys and their music.

Bloody love this band to bits. 'Baby I've got you on my mind' just blows me away. I can't begin to imagine how much I've listened to their music and how much other people love them. Keep it up boys.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone. The Divinyls had a magic full sound, great guitar and Chrissie's great vocals. Not to mention an awesome presence and performance on stage. What can separate the bands for me in the number of good to great songs. I can get about 15 to 20 with Divinyls but only 12 or so for AC/DC (most from Back in Black).

The Divinyls are one of my favourite Australian bands. Chrissy Amphlett was amazing in her schoolgirl uniform. Pleasure and Pain, I Touch Myself, Science Fiction, Boys in Town, I'll Make you Happy, Great rock n roll / new wave songs.

Why aren't the divinyls here? They are way better than the Hoodoo Gurus!

I swear I started thinking that my browser search was not working when I did not find Rose Tattoo in the list. They are one of the most influential bands in Aussie rock history! - sumit

Rose Tattoo NEVER TOO LOUD is easily the best Australian hard rock album in my opinion, every song is gold

Yes these guys are top 10. Angry the only original member left.I have been to plenty of their gigs & Angry still sings with flat out passion. Saw them support Guns N' Roses, Angry sung with Axle "Nice Boys" mate, Axle sounded like a cat in heat compared to Angry. I think they turned down Angry's mike because his voice was so strong & showed up Axle.Rock n Roll is King.